Toy Box notes: McIlroy's wedge setup

Toy Box notes: McIlroy's wedge setup

BMW Championship winner Rory McIlroy has won three of his past four starts. His all-around play has been stellar, including an extraordinary ability to save par. His wedge strategy? A loft configuration of 46, 54 and 60 degrees for his Titleist Vokey Design SM4 pitching, sand and lob wedges, respectively. The 54-60 combo is widely used on the PGA Tour.

New putters for Lefty, Holmes: At the BMW Championship, Phil Mickelson and J.B. Holmes used Japanese versions of an Odyssey putter.

Mickelson’s putter was a ProType iX 18, while Holmes used a ProType iX 9HT.

The iX line is Odyssey’s most-expensive line of putters sold in the Far East.

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Garcia’s personal touch: Sergio Garcia is one of the most individualistic professional golfers, so it’s no surprise that he has wedges unlike anybody else.

At the BMW Championship, Garcia picked up two new TaylorMade ATV wedges with fresh grooves. He used his normal loft setup – a 50-degree wedge bent to 51 and a 58-degree wedge bent to 56. He has no lob wedge, making him one of a few touring pros to choose 56 degrees (without much bounce) as the highest loft in his bag.

Garcia also likes to perform the final sole grind on his wedges, which he did at the BMW, adding a slight amount of toe and heel relief.

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Rose tests fairway wood shafts: Justin Rose experimented with two new fairway woods before the BMW. Each had 14 degrees of loft, but one had a True Temper Project X 70 shaft and the other a Matrix HD7 (both graphite). He ended up playing the Matrix shaft in the tournament.

McIlroy and Mickelson used Mitsubishi Rayon driver shafts at the BMW. McIlroy’s driver shaft was a Mitsubishi Proto 70X, while Mickelson’s was a Mitsubishi Fubuki Alpha 70X.

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Hanson relies mostly on TaylorMade: Peter Hanson, who won the European Tour’s KLM Open, uses a very different wedge setup than McIlroy. Hanson opts for 52-56 degrees on the low end rather than 46-54. Hanson played Titleist Vokey Design wedges (52, 56, 60 degree).